BV Band Parents raise funds for $20K semi-trailer
Jamie Hult
Staff writer
The Brandon Valley Marching Lynx may well be the first high school band in the state with its own semi-trailer come spring.
The BV Band Parents, Inc. – a group of band parents and supporters – have raised $3,000 toward the purchase of a $20,000 semi-trailer, but they’ve just gotten started.
The 53-feet-long trailer will haul instruments, percussion equipment, uniforms and their field show props to high school band competitions across the tri-state area. Some equipment is 6 feet long, and there are 150 members of the continually-growing competition band program, the Marching Lynx.
Band is Brandon Valley High School’s most popular activity, numbers-wise, according to director Chris Borchardt, and BV’s is among the three largest bands in South Dakota.
“It’s exciting to have so many kids interested and so many come together for a common goal to make music,” he said.
Marching Lynx instruments and gear are currently transported to competitions on three trailers, plus a fourth the school district rented this past season.
The need to upsize, Borchardt said, boils down to logistics and growth.
“Band is growing quickly, and it’ll be even bigger in the next few years,” he said.
The middle school band of 5th- through 8th-graders is bigger than ever, he said, and as those students move up, he expects the Marching Lynx to number 200 by 2021.
“I always wanted to be part of a program that’s growing, so it’s fun to see that on the horizon,” Borchardt said. “That’s why I like being in Brandon.”
The BV Band Parents are spearheading fundraising efforts for the semi-trailer, which they hope to secure by April. While details haven’t been firmed up just yet, fundraisers are being organized for this winter and spring. The group has also applied for grants and sent letters describing the need to band parents and Brandon businesses.
Donations may be made at brandonvalleybands.com and atw the band’s Dec. 18 holiday concert, as well as Amazon Smile.
